How could she?

Stuff reports:

A woman researched “drugs that can kill toddlers” before she laced with a toxic concoction and gave it to her young child while he was in hospital.

On Friday, the 35-year-old woman admitted two representative charges of ill-treatment of a child by administering various substances – first at Dunedin Hospital, and then at Starship Children's Hospital. …

case is especially horrific. Sometimes parents can't cope and under pressure do terrible things. Their actions are still terrible and must be punished, but can understand the pressure.

But this case seems very different. From what I can see the mother poisoned her baby son now once, not twice but at least six times. That is a level of malice and deliberation that is chilling.

Surely the charge should be attempted murder not merely ill-treatment?